That's "Campana-stan" or ''Land of Campana." It reflects the Weltanschauung of Michael E. Campana, President-for-Life of the Republic of Campanastan. Welcome to Campanastan - no passports or visas required!

Texas Agriculture Law BlogDon't let the name fool you - there are lots of water issues in agriculture and Tiffany Dowell of Texas A&M University does a fabulous job with this important Internet resource. Give it a read - I do every day!

The Way of WaterOregon State University Geography PhD Student, Jennifer Veilleux, records her fieldwork, research, and thoughts about transboundary water resources development in the Nile River and Mekong River basins. Particular attention is given to Ethiopia's Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and Laos' Xayaburi Dam projects.

Thirsty in SuburbiaGayle Leonard documents things from the world of water that make us smile: particularly funny, amusing and weird items on bottled water, water towers, water marketing, recycling, the art-water nexus and working.

This Day in Water HistoryMichael J. 'Mike' McGuire, engineer extraordinaire, NAE member, and author of 'The Chlorine Revolution', blogs about historical happenings in the fields of drinking water and wastewater keyed to calendar dates.

Watershed Moments: Thoughts from the HydrosphereFrom Sarah Boon - rediscovering her writing and editing roots after 13 years, primarily as an environmental scientist. Her writing centres around creative non-fiction, specifically memoir and nature writing. The landscapes of western Canada are her main inspiration.

Friday, 08 August 2014

Note that McLendon is carrying a piece. I guess that's to keep all those 'crazy bitches' away. Or maybe his host (a tranny?), who's probably packin' heat, too.

At least he has a a guide to men, which of course, disparages women as well.

I was waiting for McLendon's version of the (in)famous 'Trophy Wife Age Law': Age = (N/2) + 7, where N = age of the man (some claim the constant is "-7" for N > 60). Sometimes this is called 'Domenico's Law', after the late Pat Domenico from whom I first heard it. We could also call this the 'Boy Toy Age Law' - such parlance was not in use when the law was formulated.

I'm unsure a rigorous proof has ever been published.

Too bad McLendon's a lawyer and not a mathematician. It would have been nice see his graph expressed as a set of equations.

First, Schweitzer's comment about Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) in the National Journal:

Schweitzer is incredulous that Feinstein—considered by her critics to be too close to the intelligence community—was now criticizing the (National Security Agency). "She was the woman who was standing under the streetlight with her dress pulled all the way up over her knees, and now she says, 'I'm a nun,' when it comes to this spying!" he says. Then, he adds, quickly, "I mean, maybe that's the wrong metaphor—but she was all in!"

Wrong metaphor? Ya think, Brian?

Next, Schweitzer opines on the femininity of Southern men and Eric Cantor in particular:

Last week, I called him on the night Majority Leader Eric Cantor was defeated in his GOP primary. "Don't hold this against me, but I'm going to blurt it out. How do I say this ... men in the South, they are a little effeminate," he offered when I mentioned the stunning news. When I asked him what he meant, he added, "They just have effeminate mannerisms. If you were just a regular person, you turned on the TV, and you saw Eric Cantor talking, I would say—and I'm fine with gay people, that's all right—but my gaydar is 60-70 percent. But he's not, I think, so I don't know. Again, I couldn't care less. I'm accepting."

You go, Brian! Montana will be a good place to be in 2016.

"Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." -- Albert Einstein

Sunday, 25 May 2014

Curious about the strong supportMrs. Kanye West in the Southwest and Hawaii, with my former home state (for 17 years!) clocking in at number 1. Is it because Kim looks like a Latina? But she's also strong in my native state of New York and southern New England. Perhaps they think she's Italian-American?

At least my current home state checks in at number 48.

Whatever she is (Armenian-American, mainly), she's wealthy and famous. Must laugh all the way to the bank.

Thursday, 01 May 2014

Interesting that Sterling's racial bigotry has been known for years. So why did thelocal chapter of the NAACP give him two awards in 2008 and 2009, and had to rescind a third award because of the current flap (read here)?

Saturday, 19 April 2014

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s long-running feud with the U.S. Bureau of Land Management came to a head last week after BLM agents squared off against Bundy and an armed gaggle of self-identifying “patriot” militia-types. After decades of argument and lost court cases, Bundy still refuses to acknowledge the federal government’s claim to vast tracts of Western lands and pay the grazing fees for his cattle. More detail can be found here.

The feds were correct in standing down last week. The situation was spiraling out of hand and the risk of bloodshed was real. Any show of significant force likely would do nothing more than turn Bundy and his supporting militia into martyrs of the far right, which already has concocted a witch’s brew of conspiracy theories for the standoff involving Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, his sons, a Chinese solar company, the BLM and perhaps even the Trilateral Commission.

"Never underestimate the power of very stupid people in large groups." -- John Kenneth Galbraith

Friday, 11 April 2014

Yes, the Cover of Golf Digest Is Tacky, Gross, and Exclusionary. But So Is Golf.

It's actually perfect that Golf Digest'scover image of sexy, non-golfer Paulina Gretzky has irritated people for being sexist and exclusionary. After all, nothing provides a better digest of golf than exclusion, annoyance, cultural damage, and self-absorption.

Gretzky is the fiancée of professional golfer Dustin Johnson and the daughter of professional hockey player Wayne Gretzky. Besides those relationships, she is perhaps best known for her Instagram account, which features a number of photos as demure as the Golf Digest cover. That she is the 12th woman ever to appear on the cover of the monthly magazine has frustrated female golfers, The New York Times reports. The No. 1 ranked female golfer in the world, Inbee Park, put it elegantly when she saw the Gretzky cover: "Who is that?" Juli Inkster, the last woman to grace the cover, agreed. "It’s like, What do you have to do to get a little respect? I’m guaranteeing you right now, it was not a woman editor who chose that cover."

This is all completely fair critique. But golf is so completely rotten and has such a terrible track record on every single issue of social change over the past century that uproar over the Gretzy cover is like fretting about a small sapling in the middle of the Black Forest. Ha ha — well, the White Forest, anyway.

Here is the thing: Golf is the worst sport, if it is a sport at all. Golf is worse than NASCAR, and I say that fully understanding the weight of those words. Golf is worse because it is more classist, more racist, and probably more environmentally harmful than car racing. And what's really remarkable about golf is how little legwork it takes to demonstrate each of those qualities.

Racism. In 2011, Complex magazine put together a handy compilation of the most racist moments in golf history, which is a bit like compiling the most racist bus drivers in 1955 Montgomery. In includes a number of the responses to Tiger Woods appearance on the national tour, like when golfer Sergio Garcia made a fried chicken joke and when golfer Fuzzy Zoeller made a fried chicken joke. And when the guy that founded the Augusta, Georgia country club, home of The Masters, said that "as long as I'm alive, golfers will be white, and caddies will be black."

When the Supreme Court barred segregated golfin 1955, private clubs simply didn't accept black members. On February 14 of this year, a club in Texas admitted its first black member. "We just want to show we’re equal," resident Evelyn Walling toldthe local CBS affiliate. Too late! This club is not alone, though; the news over the past decade is peppered with similar firsts, black golf players being allowed to play golf in country clubs. By way of reminder, it is 2014.

Anti-semitism and homophobia. If its any consolation, private golf clubs were been similarly reticent to embrace gay players and Jewish players. Hillcrest Country Club in Los Angeles was created largely to accommodate Jewish players unwelcome anywhere else in the city.

Social class. While country clubs struggle with in terms of excluding people of different religions and races, they do not struggle at all with excluding members of lower social classes. They were created as social clubs for the middle- and upper-class, and that has not moved backward an inch. A 2010 paperby Hugo Ceron-Anaya of Washington College notes that golf clubs were specifically designed to foster the advancement of the upper middle-class.

It worked. The golf course is the place where business deals get done, where President Obama takes the Speaker of the House to discuss politics. It's intentionally exclusive, in a way that benefits deal-making. But it's exclusive, too, in that it ensures that those deals and conversations happen among peers. Last November, the San Diego Union-Tribuneran a sponsored essay telling women to take up golf as a way to become "a powerful player" — since women (and poor people and workers in the service sector) aren't part of this great culture.

What's more, the social status qualification of country clubs is the easiest to enforce: simply raise annual dues. Far easier than trying to guess if an applicant is as white as they say they are. A 2004 report summarized neatly: "The clubs have long histories of racial-ethnic homogeneity, but they now display some demographic diversity while preserving the economic and cultural homogeneity with which members are comfortable."

A golf course carved into the desert (AP)

Harm to the environment. Golf courses are beautiful, stretching over acres and acres of land that's heavily watered and regularly mowed with gasoline-powered mowers. The critical need to keep fairways immaculate means lots of weedkillers and insecticides. The extent to which those -cides leach into outside water sources was so heavily debated that the U.S. Golf Association itself put together a report meant to minimize such concerns. Even Golf Digest itselfcast a suspicious eye at the environmental effects of golf courses in 2008.Some courses are moving toward more natural setups. Most aren't.

The Golf Digest cover is a mistake, a problem that should — and probably will — be addressed by editors, who will apologize for emphasizing sexiness over the sport. Then, if we are to continue down the slippery path of fairness, the PGA and USGA should shut their doors, and private clubs across the country should either become public or be converted into affordable housing. At that point, the damage done by golf will be nearly eradicated, and we will consider this incident resolved.

"Anyone who watches golf on television would enjoy watching the grass grow on the greens." - Andy Rooney

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Oh, that Anthony Weiner - what a card! Seems a Denver TV station accidentally showed a picture of a weenie during a news video. Looks like they had the camera on someone's Twitter feed. See a video of 'it' on Deadspin. Weiner's claiming credit for it.

What a guy! Always trying to get more exposure for himself. And this is just the tip of the iceberg!

“Anybody that wants to disarm me can drop dead. Anybody that wants to make me unarmed and helpless, we’re gonna literally create the proven places that where more innocents are killed called ‘gun-free zones,’ we’re gonna beat you. We’re gonna vote you out of office, or suck on my machine gun, you can take it whichever way you want.” -Ted Nugent, interview with Piers Morgan

But the best argument against this measure came from someone I know who teaches in Idaho. He put it on his Facebook page a few days ago. I won't identify him to protect his privacy.

I enjoy guns as much as the next person... in Idaho, that is. But guns do not belong in the college classrooms in which I teach. My classrooms are safe spaces for open-minds and a diversity of thoughts, experiences, and worldviews. Key words here: safe spaces. A student or even a faculty member who carries a gun into a classroom destroys this safe space by creating a unnecessary power dynamic and promoting a culture of fighting violence with violence. Please consider helping to keep guns out of my classrooms.

"I want to applaud the Legislature’s courage. On a final note: I hope its members will consider my amendment for bulletproof office windows and faculty body armor in Boise State blue and orange." - Greg Hampikian

Tuesday, 18 February 2014

"For the team's millions of fans and customers, who represent one of America's most ethnically and geographically diverse fan bases, the name is a unifying force that stands for strength, courage, pride, and respect." -Roger Goodell, Commissioner, NFL, referring to the Washington Redskins

Wednesday, 29 January 2014

A good friend of mine makes monthly donations to the ACJ Foundation. The transfer is made automatically from his checking account to the ACJF's checking account. No problem, right?

Well, the other day he decided to change the amount of the monthly donation. Below is his description of what transpired.

I was at the bank today attempting to change my monthly donation amount to ACJF and was told I needed to provide them with the account number. I reminded them that they HAVE the number and use it every month so....Hearing this, they told me that I needed to provide them with the account number. I think Bank of America is new to banking because they could not come up with a work-around other than I needed to provide them with the account number. I decided to provide them with the account number. Any chance I could get that from y'all?

I told him I would need some kind of proof from him before I would give him my account number.

I'm sure BofA thinks it has a good reason for what they did. Beats me!

"If you trust banks with your money, why can't they trust you with their pens? Is it really necessary to chain them down?" - Unknown

Wednesday, 15 January 2014

“Chris Christie is dealing with a scandal after it was revealed that a top aide shut down access to the George Washington Bridge to get back at a Democratic mayor for not endorsing him. Christie was furious when they blocked the bridge because he thought they said they were blocking the fridge.” – Jimmy Fallon

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

TSA agents in St. Louis, Missouri, disarmed Rooster Monkburn, a cowboy sock money, of his two-inch toy gun after a woman brought the stuffed monkey through security. Agents said that it posed a threat because it could be confused for a real gun, according to local reports.

“[The agent] said ‘this is a gun,’” said Phyllis May, recounting the experience to fly back to her home in Washington state. “I said no, it’s not a gun it’s a prop for my monkey.”

Yeah, I can easily see how this could be confused with a real gun.

More:

May, who has a small business selling sock monkeys, was also questioned for bringing the sewing supplies she uses to make the stuffed animals in her carry-on bag. TSA agents told her they would have to confiscate the miniature firearm and call the police, although Washington’s KING-TV reports that the TSA never did call the authorities. May’s sewing supplies were ultimately returned to her.

“Rooster Monkburn has been disarmed so I’m sure everyone on the plane was safe,” May quipped. “I understand [the TSA agent] was doing her job but at some point doesn’t common sense prevail?”

May had named the disarmed monkey Rooster Monkburn after Rooster Cogburn, John Wayne’s character in the film True Grit.

I have less of a problem with confiscation of her sewing supplies, depending upon what they were. I recall an event shortly after 9/11. Agents confiscated my nail clippers, but the woman with a large hat pin in her hair went through security with nary a suspicious look.

Friday, 29 November 2013

“You know if the U.S. Government wanted to boost the economy there's a simple solution make Black Friday the refund date for your state and federal taxes” - Stanley Victor Paskavich

"When women are depressed, they eat or go shopping. Men invade another country. It's a whole different way of thinking." - Elayne Boosler

"Shopping is better than sex. If you're not satisfied after shopping you can make an exchange for something you really like." - Adrienne Gusoff

"Oh for the good old days when people would stop Christmas shopping when they ran out of money." - Unknown

"One of the nice things about Christmas is that you can make people forget the past with a present." -Unknown

"Because only in America, people trample others for sales exactly one day after being thankful for what they already have." - Unknown

"Christmas is the season when you buy this year's gifts with next year's money." - Unknown

“Permanence, perseverance and persistence in spite of all obstacle s, discouragement s, and impossibilities: It is this, that in all things distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.” –Thomas Carlyle

“Perseverance is a great element of success. If you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate, you are sure to wake up somebody.” –Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Effort only fully releases its reward after a person refuses to quit.” – Napoleon Hill

“A little more persistence, a little more effort, and what seemed hopeless failure may turn to glorious success.” –Elbert Hubbard

“Perhaps there is only one cardinal sin: impatience. Because of impatience we were driven out of Paradise, because of impatience we cannot return.” –W.H. Auden

“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not: nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not: the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” –Calvin Coolidge

“Patience, persistence and perspiration make an unbeatable combination for success.” –Napoleon Hill

Coyne recently posted an open letter to Deepak Chopra. Seems that Chopra recently initiated a brief Twitter tirade against Coyne. That's interesting, becausealthough Coyne has over 16,000 followers, he follows no one on Twitter; he learned of Chopra's effort from someone else.

What I enjoyed most about Coyne's post was this poem, set to the music of I Am Woman:

I am Deepak; hear me roarAs you patronize my store,And buy up all the nostrums that I sell.You may say that I’m a crank,But just tell that to my bank,For I’m Deepak, and you can go to hell.

Oh yes, I am rich,Though it’s richness born of woo;And for those whose life’s a bitch,I will bilk them through and though.If I had to, I could sell anything;I’m a crank,But I’m a scientist—I am DEEPAK!

Enjoy!

"Every great cause begins as a movement, becomes a business, and ends up a racket." - Eric Hoffer

Saturday, 09 November 2013

This week's New Yorkerhas another wonderful cover by Barry Blitt: 'Reboot'.

“We’re going to do a challenge. I’m going to try and download every movie ever made and you are going to try to sign up for Obamacare — and we’ll see which happens first.” — Jon Stewart to Secretary Kathleen Sebelius on The Daily Show, Oct. 7

Tuesday, 22 October 2013

"Why would the heathcare.gov website be designed in such a way by an outside contractor? Because coders often price jobs by the number of lines of code they will have to write." -Daryl Rowland, after learning that the number of lines of code in the website is around 5x that of a large bank's.

Sunday, 13 October 2013

"We have denigrated the Native Americans long enough. But there are so many dickheads in DC that we have decided they deserve their own team." - Daniel 'Rich Cabeza' Snyder, owner, Washington Foreskins

Tuesday, 17 September 2013

When I saw this post on Daniel Collins' Facebook page I thought it was a joke; apparently not. Here is the original story from io9.com:

Chibuihem Amalaha, an award winning student at the University of Lagos,
is claiming that he's "disproved" gay marriage through science — and he used the power of magnets to do so. His "groundbreaking" work is backed by the university.

His mathematics of gay marriage is particularly illuminating. In aninterview with This Day Live he says (Note: read here if you dare).

And I thought Nigeria was known just for email scams and widows, barristers, and princes waiting to share their fortunes with others!

But wait - Amalaha is working on showing that the Second Law of Thermodynamics allows for email scams! That's sure to win him tenure from the University of Lagos and the Medal of Achievement from the Nigeria government.

Just what Nigeria needs these days to burnish its image.

“Nigerian sector does not encourage scientific research so much but what God has given me I am using it effectively to touch Nigerian nation. All the scientific researches I have been doing have not yielded any encouragement to do more." - Chibuihem Amalaha

Friday, 30 August 2013

Don't be like all the others! Why mess around with regular water when you can have these capsules?

Or, if you prefer, get the handy canned version.Either way, guaranteed to be dihydrogen monoxide!

Thanks to Jay Zarnetske.

“Don't bother to argue anything on the Internet. And I mean, ANYTHING.... The most innocuous, innocent, harmless, basic topics will be misconstrued by people trying to deconstruct things down to the sub-atomic level and entirely miss the point.... Seriously. Keep peeling the onion and you get no onion.” - Vera Nazarian

Tuesday, 30 July 2013

Dee Liner, blue-chip (aren't they all at UA) football recruit at the University of Alabama, caused a social media stir when he posted this picture of himself (left) and two buddies on Instagram flashing some cash while on vacation in Panama City, FL. The picture has since been removed; apparently, someone told Liner that stuff like this gets around rather quickly, way beyond friends.

Liner earlier made headlines by decommitting from Alabama archrival Auburn to attend Alabama.

But hey, Auburn can beat that. Liner's wad looks like a lot (hey, maybe the bills are mostly singles) but not as much as that of former Auburn football player Dakota Mosley:

The garage sale must have gone well. Apparently no NCAA sanctions resulted from Mosley's photography.

For all I know, both guys came by the money legitimately, but what message are they sending?

Nothing like making a good impression, guys!

"Pictures like this make the statement that some kids need the discipline college athletics and education brings a lot more than the programs and institutions need them, and if Liner doesn’t get that message quickly, he’ll be sitting with Brent Calloway up in the stands on Saturdays." -In The Know

Circle of BlueCircle of Blue uses journalism, scientific research, and conversations from around the world to bring the story of the global freshwater crisis to life. Here you’ll find new water reports, news headlines, and hear from leading scientists.

Drink Water For LifeThe idea is simple. Drink water or other cheap beverages instead of expensive lattes, sodas, and bottled water for a set period of time. A day, a week, a month, Lent, Ramadan, Passover, or some other holiday period.

eFlowNet NewsletterFrom the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) this newsletter has lots of information about environmental flows and related issues.

Sustainable Water Resources RoundtableSince 2002, the Sustainable Water Resources Roundtable (SWRR) has brought together federal, state, corporate, non-profit and academic sectors to advance our understanding of the nation’s water resources and to develop tools for their sustainable management.